Service Unit: Hayden’s Ferry 

Troop 2069 (Brownies – Cadettes) 

Years as a troop leader: 4 

What inspired you to become a troop leader?

I attribute a lot of my leadership skills, sales skills, resilience, my love for the outdoors and my desire to make the world a better place to the foundations that I gained from Girl Scouts when I was a brownie. I wanted my daughter to experience what it’s like to make memories with her Girl Scout Sisters, while gaining valuable lifelong skills. I’m thankful I got to experience Girl Scouts as a child, and I am so glad I get to pay it forward now as a leader who encourages and empowers girls.

What kind of service projects have you done with your troop?

The girls really have a heart for helping children and have used some of their cookie money to donate items like diapers, bottles, blankets, toys, feminine products, toiletries and of course, Girl Scout cookies to local non-profits such as Maggie’s Place, Sunshine Acres Children’s Home, Aris Foundation, Child Crisis Arizona, and the Ronald McDonald House. This year, our Juniors look forward to earning their Bronze Award!

What would you like others to know about volunteer opportunities with the Girl Scouts?

I wasn’t aware that there are so many volunteer opportunities in Girl Scouts including the local neighborhood service team! After getting my bearings as a troop leader I was able to help the Hayden’s Ferry service team which has many volunteer positions to choose from including adult recognition coordinator, neighborhood finance specialist, neighborhood event coordinator and more. I’m also thankful I learned about the Authentic Leadership Community (ALC) which is a group of volunteers that get together to empower other women to become leaders. I recommend checking out ALC at their next meeting!

What are your troop’s cookie selling tips and tricks?

Our troop creates QR codes for each girl’s website and buy packs of little scratcher rainbow cards that we use to write custom thank you cards to customers who buy four cookie packages. We also created our own log sheet for all transactions from the cookie cupboard/cookie house to parents. This makes it so easy to log into eBudde instead of having to flip through the receipt book. Anytime a parent receives cookies they sign both the receipt book and the log. When the cookie manager enters the information into eBudde, they initial each line item to show that it’s been entered. This really helped eliminate any discrepancies and just made life easier!